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I had a customer on the elkam waterwAy had a 27' or so searaY sundancer with a glass arch he had somone install a hydraulic kit that folded the arch to. Clear the bridge thst i belive is around 10'
Btw on tides ive got the navionics app on my i phone. Aside from a chartplotter on my phone i can check the tides. Very handy.

Btw on tides ive got the navionics app on my i phone. Aside from a chartplotter on my phone i can check the tides. Very handy.

I've heard Navionics is an excellent app. I'd get it but my phone is not supported. It's $10, but has the same info as the Navionics Gold chip that costs near $300 for boat mounted chartplotters. My fishing buddies back home rave about it.

I had a customer on the elkam waterwAy had a 27' or so searaY sundancer with a glass arch he had somone install a hydraulic kit that folded the arch to. Clear the bridge thst i belive is around 10'

He must've had an extraordinarily tall arch, or else a dome or antenna that stuck up further than the arch, because I've had my 32 down that canal probably 20 times and never had a problem. Came close once, but still got through.

Those bridges are not 12ft, but rather 10ft clearance at mean water level. 10ft is the highest available clearance in PC. I also have a 10ft bridge on W. Spring Lake. My 32ft cruiser (with radar arch) makes it under as long as the tide is at 2.0 or below. So, needless to say, I watch the tides when I come & go.
The Edgewater St. bridges east of Midway to Harbor will all be torn out and raised 6"-8" when they widen Edgewater to 4 lanes. That project is supposed to start anytime and will take 2yrs, according to county engineers.

I have a T top on my 21 center console Sea Hunt, and I have to take my poles down from the overhead rack! If I don't I sand the surface off the top / tips of my rods when I forget! :-(( I've done that a couple times - most of the time I remember. I come in and out of Bass Inlet (that is right next to Fisherman's Village).

That is the bridge clearance you have to determine. Trust me, most know I'm one who bought too big a boat when I first moved here. The Pellam bridges are usually not a problem, like HH said, even for large cruisers. But when determining your personal needs for clearance you have to check yourself at 0.0 tide, which happens almost every day or night. Tide charts are published both onliine and in print for years in advance. Good electronics, even the affordable Garmin 76Cx can be used to accurately forecast tides in hourly increments or less.

If the high tide of the day is forecast at 1.7' this means you will have 1.7' less clearance that you did when you took your measurement at 0.0. The same works in the reverse. Figure out what your absolute minimum water is to get your boat off the lift and take a tidal reading at that moment. This will be your minimum water needed to launch. You can then plan your trips effectively.

The only other concept you need to be aware of is called Anomaly Tides. This means the actual tide was strangely higher or lower than what the moon and the stars predicted it to be. This happens a few times a year in our area. If I could better explain Anomaly Tides, I'd be charging for this information...lol.

The tidal station I use is Charlotte Harbor/Punta Gorda. It is located near Fishermen's Village.

If the

I have an App on my iPhone that is called AyeTides (and it gives you the tides). As well as sunrise and set, and moon rise and set. I don't worry about any of that when I decide to fish, but I do pay attention. Meaning - I fish regardless of what the tides and sun / moon is doing, but I know that different times of the day someone rings the dinner bell for fish to eat! I find that between 4:30 and sunset are the best times regardless of what the tides are doing.

I've heard Navionics is an excellent app. I'd get it but my phone is not supported. It's $10, but has the same info as the Navionics Gold chip that costs near $300 for boat mounted chartplotters. My fishing buddies back home rave about it.

I have an expensive chart plotter / depth finder with a really good transducer - I have the Navionics chip for the area - they put out good ones with updates all the time. I have found that having someone that really knows the waters around here and has fished for years can show you more places where the fish like to run, than the chips. :-) I rarely get skunked when out on the water, and even when I give people a head start - cuz I captain the boat and give up the first hook-up, I still do pretty well.

I have a T top on my 21 center console Sea Hunt, and I have to take my poles down from the overhead rack! If I don't I sand the surface off the top / tips of my rods when I forget! :-(( I've done that a couple times - most of the time I remember. I come in and out of Bass Inlet (that is right next to Fisherman's Village).

Yeah, I believe your bridge is 14ft, but the rods held in the T-Top would be too high (crunch)

Do you get your gas at fishermans or do tou carry cans?
I wsh i had a gas do k at the end of my canal.

Fishville has the absolute highest fuel prices around (even with the 5% discount for getting a pump-out!). I only go there when I'm desperate. Burnt Store marina and Jug Creek are always the lowest (usually by around $0.40/gallon!) I used to use my buddy's 30 gallon gas caddy and get the non-ethanol at the station 1 mile from me, but last year I had water problems with the fuel, so I stopped using it.

Fishville has the absolute highest fuel prices around (even with the 5% discount for getting a pump-out!). I only go there when I'm desperate. Burnt Store marina and Jug Creek are always the lowest (usually by around $0.40/gallon!) I used to use my buddy's 30 gallon gas caddy and get the non-ethanol at the station 1 mile from me, but last year I had water problems with the fuel, so I stopped using it.

What is your opinoin of Marathon ethanol free

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